Making It Up As I Go Along #282

MONDAY...
— Leave early to drop the bike off to the store for a tune-up.
— Work has some developments. I’m actually in on a promotion competition that I thought I was left out of... and I’m going to stay straight evenings for longer than originally planned. The original had me back to days in September. But they like having the extra body on evenings (a thinner shift) so I’m free to stay there until October... or when I want to leave it... whichever comes first.
— Hour walk with five rabbits seen tonight.

TUESDAY...
— Go to Toyota before work to talk lease. I test drive a Matrix while we’re at it.
— Work is fine for the most part but my stomach and head feel touchy.
— Some e-mails when I get home. Due to the not feeling 100%, I do not walk today. But I walked Sunday and Monday so I feel okay about it.

WEDNESDAY...
— Sick day. Not feeling real sick but my stomach isn’t doing great. I think it’s something I ate over the last few days doing it. The result is I eat nothing but a couple of bowls of cereal and some crackers with peanut butter and cheese.
— I do venture out to get my bike from the store (it was in for a tune up). But another night with no walk.

THURSDAY...
— Get back in the thick of things health wise. Not back to 100% but it’s mostly due to how little I’ve eaten over the last 24 hours. So I’m tired and sluggish... but able to start eating again.
— Still, no walk tonight. It has rained some today and maybe I’d get stuck out a few kilometers away from home when the rain starts again... plus, with my energy still not fully back and my stomach feeling like it’s been given a rough go, I’ll give it another day before exerting myself.

FRIDAY...
— Car shopping once again. Mazda and Toyota... and a few test drives. I’m going back to each place tomorrow too but I think, if things fall in to place on a deal, Mazda may win out. Either way, I’ll be in pretty good shape.
— Work is okay but it’s a slow night. Greek food and a walk with Kiyomi, Michelle and Claudette.
— Meet Karl for a drink and bite to eat after work. Good to catch up.
— It’s humid today. At 1:00 AM, it’s still feeling like 30 degrees.

SATURDAY...
— New car day... sort of. Not that I have a new car but the deal was finalized. I’m leaving behind the world of Toyota and going to Mazda. Next Friday will be change over day.


Flipping Fandom

Hockey teams. Every Canadian has a favourite. Often, when I talk to others about mine, it causes brows to furrow and heads to shake.

I admit that I have an unusual situation. That’s because, most Canadians pick a team and stick with it... and only that team... for ever and ever. If you like Toronto, you don’t like Montreal. Like Montreal means you have no time for Toronto. Calgary fans hate Edmonton. Nobody really dislikes Vancouver and... well honestly, nobody really likes Ottawa.

Okay, I’m taking a few liberties with Ottawa. I live in Ottawa and I personally don’t like the Senators... but I do know several die hard Sens fans. They just don’t have real good taste.

My situation could be mistaken for that of a waffler. For my entire life as a hockey fan, I’ve liked two teams... two teams that should never both be liked by the one person. I’m a fan of both the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. And by the early 1990s, the Vancouver Canucks joined the list, giving me three NHL teams to pull for.

How’d this all happen? There are simple reasons for it. In fact, I could be seen as a bit of a bonding agent within my family.

As a kid, I was brought into the world of hockey by two people. My father (a die hard Maple Leaf fan) and my sister (a Canadiens fan). Watching games with dad, I learned the way of the Leafs. And when dad was at work, my sister taught me of the good of the Habs.

And at this point in time, it was quite easy to take both teams into my heart. The Canadiens were still a strong club with Hall of Fame greats such as Lafleur, Robinson and Gainey. They had it all... history, style, and flashy uniforms. Lafleur would fly down the wing with his hair flowing. My first ever jersey was a Guy Lafleur one brought back to me by my sister from the Forum itself.

The Toronto team was a harmless, loveable club, losing more often than not. Harold Ballard was a bizarre owner. And lesser players worked like dogs to try to make something happen. Names such as Korn, Terry Martin, Poddubny, and Tremblay struggled to keep up with the few bright lights (Salming and Vaive).

Other Montreal fans said I shouldn’t like the Leafs... but I kept thinking it was cruel to go against a club that should be pitied. And my second hockey jersey came from my uncle Wayne... a blue Leafs jersey with the number of a departed star, Darryl Sittler, on back.

So began my journey through life, cheering for enemies. And being such a cute and lovable kid, I brought my father and sister on board with me. When Montreal was on Hockey Night in Canada, my sister, father and I cheered for them. And when Toronto was on TV, we’d pull for them too. On those times when Montreal and Toronto played against each other, Edena cheered for the Habs, dad went for the Leafs, and I sat with a permanent grin on my face in a no lose situation.

So it went for many years. Montreal and Toronto, teams 1(a) and 1(b)... Vancouver being there as the third team to go for (especially when they came on TV as the second game of Saturday double headers). And then things began to change. In Montreal, the dark times began. Mario Tremblay as coach, Rejean Houle the general manager and Patrick Roy, the greatest goaltender of all time, run out of town. The Forum was replaced by the Bell Centre and Pierre Turgeon was made captain even though he didn’t have an ounce of leadership ability.

And at the same time, Toronto was becoming the family team. The Maple Leaf farm club was in our home town. We watched young players come up through the ranks and join the Leafs in Toronto. And heart and soul players were on the big club. Gilmour, Sundin, Gill, Muller... with young guys like Potvin, and Rhodes.

Teams 1(a) and 1(b) became teams 1 and 2. I mean how can you cheer for the team that ran Roy out of town over the team that embraces Doug Gilmour?

Several years later, roles reverse again. Montreal has heart again, with Koivu leading the way. And Toronto becomes a tough team to cheer for. Lindros? Belfour? Domi? These are players I’ve learned to dislike... how can I cheer for them? And the final blow. The Maple Leafs pull the farm team out of St. John’s. The final slap in the face.

So this brings us to the new rankings in my books. Montreal is clear number one... Vancouver two... and Toronto, for turning away from my home town, slips to third. But at least they aren’t Ottawa!

Making It Up As I Go Along #281

MONDAY...
— Quiet time at AFIS. Trevor, Jonathan, Shawn and I are all that’s there. We order Chinese for supper... I stay an extra hour to bank some time as well.
— Hour long walk at home tonight. Last night I was out for an hour and a half and there was supposed to be a meteor shower... I saw one. Tonight, I saw two. Go figure.

TUESDAY...
— Wake to the phone... telemarketer. I get another one an hour later. The telephone is quickly going the way of e-mail... a tool for advertising. Pretty annoying.
— Work is okay. Just Trevor, Jonathan and me in AFIS. Walk at break with Trevor... but no after work walk tonight... it’s raining by the time we leave the office.
— I watch Bill Maher on the Larry King show. Maher is an interesting guy... maybe the smartest comedian out there... or at least the most politically educated one.

WEDNESDAY...
— Slow work night with Trevor, Jonathan and myself in AFIS again.
— No walk again tonight. This time it’s because I need to go to bed a bit earlier. We’re playing golf in the morning tomorrow and I’ll need to try to get some good sleep before it cause golf to work with little sleep isn’t a good idea.

THURSDAY...
— Busy day. Golf in the morning with Atlas, Trevor, Jonathan and myself. Not a bad round but a bit wet for three holes or so.
— From golf it’s a quick shower and bite before work. Work is therefore fairly tough as we’re all a bit tired.
— Deal with a few e-mails after work... watch Daily Show... and do an hour and twenty minute walk.

FRIDAY...
— Work is fine. Not much out of the regular. I get pretty tired though and have a deep sleep on the sofa for about an hour late in the night.
— No walk tonight... cold and windy. It’s 12 degrees tonight. Good in the Fall but right now, it’s too cold (especially with the wind) to go.

SATURDAY...
— Quiet around the house for much of the day. Melissa and Nick pick me up to go to the annual Pig roast and L’Abbe’s house. Good food there and I talk much of the night with Amy and Kerry. Amy was my first team leader in AFIS... And Kerry is a good Hab fan, as well as her boyfriend. Some time with Casey as well and then it’s home via a ride with Linda. Good night.


Places

It’s one of those days when you just don’t want to do much of anything. It’s sunny out and a fairly nice breeze is cooling the room, but I’m tired and unfocused.

Today I’m left thinking of places. Little corners of the world where I’ve been. Most would be meaningless but knowing that those places are there... it leaves you longing to be able to snap your fingers and go. Rocky places by the sea with winds and waves creating a murmur on the shore and a rustling in the bushes.

Mountain crevasses seen from a distance. They’re filled with trees and leave you wondering what’s going on there within the shadows of vegetation and rock.

City lane ways back home. Small urban caves taking you beyond the typical front facade of homes and into a secret place of nook and cranny architecture and small gardens sprouted out of an unplanned corner. It is these places that make walking in downtown St. John’s much more rewarding than driving.

There is an English town settled in a valley, along a river. A stone bridge has been fitted with small shops. And a corner of shops nearby, where I wandered with family, window shopping while we waited for the bus to take us away. Such an ancient town that Roman Baths remain for tourists to wander through and think of long gone times.

Greek places more ancient than one can imagine. A long walk up a hillside that brings you to the ruin of an athletic track. This track still sits there, hidden from day to day life. I imagine it in scorching sun with birds and insects milling about... quiet except for their flutters and buzzings. Occasionally, people come. Coming with tours that arrive like clockwork. And a select few of the tourists make the march up to the top of the hill. And even fewer of these people stop and appreciate the place as just another unique corner of the world. Too many are too quick to take their pictures and pose for their camcorders.

A little Greek shop in the shadow of the Parthenon. There with dozens of other Greek shops, tucked away beneath such a famous landmark. It brings the normalcy of life together with the myth of the past.

And seaside towns of bleached white. White crested waves slap against white stone walls. People wander the mazes of the town unlike most any other. With each corner comes a new and different view. Red flowers framed by the white... blue trim to accent it... and to be able to look out over a town of such dreams and watch the sun set into the ocean, leaving the world golden and dream like.

Everyday places. All ordinary and all unique. All right there to be experienced, but all currently out of reach.